A New Life
by Sunshine-M
Summary: Major Spoilers for The Rise of Skywalker, Reylo fanfiction. Don't read if you haven't seen the movie. Heavy REYLO. Please please R&R


Disclaimer: I own nothing. I'm just fixing one detail from the episode 9 of Star Wars, The Rise of Skywalker. stay away if you haven't read it.

She settles in Tatooine, and it is simple and easy, things that she never had before. She also has a last name, a gift from the family which chose her and does not discredit in anyway her parents' memories.

She will never know how she got all the sand out of Luke's old house, but she does. She often sits in the evening, watching the two suns of Tatooine, wondering how often her mentor did that

_Almost every night_, she could swear she hears him answer when it pops into her head.

This is her new life. She goes back to scavenging, while trying to revive what was left of Luke's uncle's garden. She wants to be self-sufficient.

Do not get her wrong, she loves all her friends from the resistance, but there is nothing to resist anymore. She stays away from politics, as Jedis should, and she minds her own business.

At night, she dreams. She dreams of that kiss, fleeting, and perfect. She sighs happily when she remembers their lips smashing against one another, and then her heart breaks when he draws his last breath and leave her, all alone, once more.

She knows he never chose to, the fact that he came and killed the Knights of Ren is a testament of his commitment of doing right by her.

However, intentions are well and swell but when push comes to shove, she is, once again, alone. Sure, BB-8 is around, but she doesn't let him get in contact too much with the other droids. She wants a life that is her own, where nothing was taken from her because of who she is, before she even knew who that was. She wants to be able to finish reading the Jedi chronicles. She wants to spend time in the day in communion with all the jedis who came before her. They have so much to teach her, and she is thirsty for their knowledge. She wants a life where she decides what she does, not because there is a schedule to follow, even though she cannot help but create patterns of her own. She wants a life where she is Rey, Rey Skywalker. Not the savior of the galaxy, nor the woman who almost destroyed it, the granddaughter to an abominable man, the daughter to a strong couple. She just wants, and for once, she gets. She gets that life of solitude, that she chose for herself and that feels right, for the first time.

She never dreams he could come back, her parents told her that lesson against their will. She also never hears his voice, but it breaks her heart, and she wonders if it means that in the great scheme of things, he is considered to be the last Sith. That thought makes her sick.

She cannot tell anyone about her turmoil, what keeps her up at night, and what brings her solace, and happiness, for none of her friends would understand. They're all happily paired up, repairing the Republic, and well, she spares herself the trouble of explaining to them how she could have loved someone they considered a monster, and she liked to believe she spares them for trying to understand something that they would have so much trouble wrapping their head around. It is a mutually beneficial non-disclosure in a way. Furthermore, he's not there anymore, and she does not want one bad word uttered against him in her presence. She made it known, before she left the resistance turned Republic, that Kylo Ren had died to be reborn as Ben Solo, who in turn had given his life to give hers back. People were not happy, but they had moved on. There was too much to do, too many things to rebuild, too many institutions to get running again, too many parents and child to reunite. They may have hated Kylo Ren, but there is not time left on their hand to give Ben Solo a second thought.

Is she happy about it? In a selfish way, she is. This way, he stays hers, and only hers. She saw behind the mask the man he could and would be. She saw the love in his eyes, the sacrifice in his demeanor, the trust in his whole being. She saw it all, until his body was called back to wherever. At least he's reunited with his mother and father, she likes to believe. Maybe they're finally getting to know each other in a non-war context. Would they have gotten along? She doubts it, but then again, Leia was a force of nature, and if someone could make her husband and her son get along, it would be her.

She sometimes thinks back to all their encounters, to their uncanny ability to find one another in a galaxy. She recollects often about their last fight, on the Death Star. There had been a vibe, an energy… She had been so angry, she had wanted to jump his bones. She regrets never having acted on it. Sure, it would have been weird, with Finn watching them from afar, but yes, it was on her mind.

She learns to live with her regrets and her happy memories.

One afternoon though, she is hiding from the heat inside the troglodytic habitat, and going over the Jedi chronicles, when she hears a thump. She almost doesn't turn around, but something catches her eyes.

Dark Hair.

Dark eyes.

Wait, what?

She jumps to the flood, and there he is, in his naked glory, looking completely lost and bewildered.

She doesn't speak, she does not trust the words popping into her head. She carefully and tenderly put her hands on his cheeks, and turns his head toward her.

It really is him. Oh heavens, is she going insane?

In that instant, she is alright with that.

She looks at him, at his arms, his chest, and she forces her eyes to respect his pudor.

"Rey?" He says.

It is like hearing all the Jedis at once saying her name, it is even better. Her heart, oh dear, her heart…. She doesn't know how it stays in her chest, but it beats madly.

"Ben?" She utters, feeling tears pool in her eyes.

"Rey," he says again, grabbing her face between his giant hands. This time she can see he sees her, he knows it is her.

"Ben…" She says again, this time crying freely.

They hug, and her mind is overcome with his scent, the feeling of his flesh against her, everything.

He pushes her head away from his shoulder, and find her lips. She grabs his brown locks and melts into his embrace.

She feels his arousal against her leg, and a part of her screams that she needs clarity.

She pulls away from him, and grabs a sheet, to put around him.

"How come you are here?" She asks, for lack of a smarter question.

He takes his time, to think about his answer, then says:

"I died. I felt it. I welcomed it. It meant you stayed alive. I had fulfilled my duty. However, wherever we go, my uncle, my parents and several Jedi I never met had a meeting, I guess. They said I was robbed out of my life by being always possessed and torn. They said that I had been deprived of too many things, that I had to come back, that I would leave my dyad to die a lonely death if I was not there for her. I never agreed, I could not believe my luck, but I wasn't sure I could believe it."

She doesn't not speak, thinking she is dreaming.

"Then, I blacked out, and… here I am."

"Here you are," she says, caressing his face and hair. "I can't believe it."

"I can't either."

"I can't believe you died for me. I never got to thank you, but more importantly, thank you for coming back."

"My pleasure, I guess?" He says, and they both laugh.

So much for having used to being alone. She would never be on her own again, and she looks forward to it. He's her dyad. He's hers. She's his.

She still wants to jump his bones, but he just went through an ordeal….

She cooks him a meal, and find him some clothes that used to be his uncle's when he lived there.

"You looked amazing yielding your uncle's lightsaber," she says, as she helps him get dressed.

"You looked amazing yielding my mother's lightsaber," he replied.

That night, she watched him sleep, afraid he'll disappear.

At some point, she must have fallen asleep, because she wakes up, and meets his eyes, watching her lovingly.

"You're really here," she says, feeling tears again.

"I am. Will you have me?"

And have him, she does.

_Please R&R_


End file.
